By Casey Neill
New law set to pour cold water on cafe pipes…
Greater Dandenong shisha cafe owners are reeling following news that the practice will soon face the same restrictions as conventional tobacco smoking.
Ali Adam from Springvale’s Cafe Asmara said bringing shisha regulation into line with tobacco laws from 1 August next year could close his business.
“I don’t know how we’re going to accommodate this new legislation,” he said.
About 1000 people go through his doors each week and he said adapting would be tough in the timeframe.
“It’s not long enough,” he said.
“Everyone’s got bills to pay and a family to support.”
Western Metropolitan Region Greens MP Colleen Hartland successfully amended the State Government’s Tobacco Act Amendment Bill to include shisha in State Parliament’s Upper House on Tuesday 13 September.
“We do not smoke in restaurants anymore and we do not smoke in eating places, so I do not think the water pipe should be exempted,” she said.
“Water pipe smoking is as dangerous or more dangerous than smoking cigarettes due to the quantity often consumed in one sitting.”
Liberal Party health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge and her colleagues voted for the move.
“There is a year until the Bill is enacted,” she said.
“The Government will have time to work with those small businesses on the transition.”
The Bill is now due to return to the Lower House when it next sits in the week starting Monday 10 October.
A State Government spokeswoman said the Labor Party did not plan to oppose it, despite not supporting the amendment.
She said the Tobacco Amendment Bill was developed following consultation about smoking in outdoor dining and e-cigarette regulation, without any intention to capture waterpipes.
“The Government expressed concerns about the lack of consultation on an amendment that will have a significant impact on hundreds of businesses,” she said.
“The Government also expressed concerns about the enforceability of this amendment.”
Australian Lebanese Medical Association president Wally Ahmar applauded the change and said that he hoped it would raise awareness of the dangers of shisha smoking.
The cardiologist said there was a misconception that shisha was harmless.
“Shisha smoking is like smoking 200 cigarettes,” he said.
“You can go to a café, have food and have a shisha, yet you can’t smoke a cigarette.
“It’s a double-standard law.”
Mr Ahmar said children could also legally buy and smoke shisha, but not cigarettes.
He said the change brought Victoria into line with the rest of Australia.
“The Government had a moral obligation to act,” he said.
“It’s black and white, it’s not a complex issue.
“It’s not a cultural ting. It’s banned in many Middle Eastern countries.
“It’s been something we’ve worked on since 2014.
“It’s long-overdue.”
Mr Ahmar said businesses that offered shisha would be unaffected “if their food is good enough” and that the 1 August deadline gave them time to adapt.
He likened the situation to the solarium tanning bed ban.
“What about the workers? There was carbon monoxide poisoning last year of a person enclosed in a shisha place,” he said.
Greater Dandenong councillor Matthew Kirwan has been pushing for the change since 2013.
“It is great news for not just visitors to those venues – who were often unaware of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and that tobacco is in most shisha – but children under 18 and workers in such venues,” he said.
